Wir Lieben Bacharach! – or We Love Bacharach! – is a particular treat. With 18 tracks recorded between 1965 and 1973, it contains the songs that are the crème of the crop of the Bacharach and David ouevre: “Close to You,” “I Say a Little Prayer,” “A House is Not a Home.” But listening to this compilation, you might know those tunes as “So wie ich,” “Ich wunsche mir so viel von dir” and “Ein Haus ist kein Zuhaus” as performed by Karel Gott, Bata Illic and Corry Brokken, respectively! But in addition to the familiar classics, there are rare German renditions of “The Green Grass Starts to Grow,” “Hasbrook Heights,” “Paper Mache” and “The Wine is Young,” too, all favorites of Bacharach diehards including yours truly. Some arrangements hew closely to the originals (Gus Backus’ “Hallo, Pussycat” – you can guess the English title!) while others offer unique re-interpretations (Die Caravelles’ “In Gedanken bin ich bei dir,” or “True Love Never Runs Smooth”). For those who understand German, the translations are often far from literal, so that adds another dimension to these recordings. The booklet has full-color reproductions of sixteen original LP and single sleeves, plus discographical information and liner notes – in German, of course! (review by Joe Marchese)

The Sächsisches Vocalensemble under Matthias Jung has now recorded its second selection of Christmas gems for cpo from one of the most important collections of Lutheran church music, the St. Augustin School in Grimma, Saxony. The focus: festive, magnificent church cantatas (most of them including Christmas trumpet splendor) by composers from Central Germany who were famous musicians and held prominent posts during the years before and after 1700. To name only a few: Johann Schelle, Philipp Heinrich Erlebach, and Johann Rosenmüller, as well as composers such as Christian Liebe or Gottfried Vogel who are no longer remembered today but whose music brings wonder to modern listeners.

The Magnificat, written to celebrate Mary’s joy after the Annunciation, and the oldest Christmas Cantata of Bach (Weimar, 1713), are an overwhelming fresco of a Nativity, foundation of the world. With these masterful works, Johann-Sebastian Bach opens for us the gates of the sacred, as well as the ones to our own relationship with spirituality. These pieces, amongst the most beautiful ever composed, are no doubt the best way possible to open the Christmas period. Led here by the very young but nonetheless inspired, Valentin Tournet who conducts his ensemble La Chapelle Harmonique.